The old Sears at Pacific View Mall in Ventura has a new life: a two-story bowling, arcade and dining complex that opened its doors on October 10, bringing with it something that has never existed anywhere else in the world. Round1 Bowling & Arcade's new Ventura location debuted alongside YUU Japanese Food Hall, billed as the first YUU food hall anywhere, packed with 14 restaurants celebrated across Japan.
The food hall occupies the ground floor of the new complex, which fills a 55,000-square-foot, two-story space inside the mall's former Sears building, according to the Conejo Valley Guide. Round1's complex includes 14 string-pin bowling lanes, arcade games, some crane games imported from Japan, ping pong and karaoke party rooms, plus a sports bar; billiards are coming soon. As reported by the Voice of Alexandria, Round One Entertainment Inc. is a family-friendly entertainment brand from Japan that now operates roughly 60 bowling and arcade locations across the United States.
A Food Hall Built on Direct Training in Japan
What sets YUU apart from a typical mall food court is how it came together. Round1 team members traveled to Japan to train directly alongside each of the 14 restaurants before the hall opened, learning their cooking techniques, preparation methods and signature-dish details, per the same Voice of Alexandria account. The original restaurants reportedly approved the recipes and how they would be prepared before anything went on the Ventura menu.
Akira Ide, president and CEO of Round1, said Ventura would be the first community to experience YUU and that the company was proud to begin there, the outlet reports. The food hall's name itself carries meaning: YUU translates to “play” in Japanese, and the concept is meant to celebrate the individuality, histories and distinct specialties of each participating restaurant rather than flatten them into a generic food-court format.
The lineup spans regional Japanese cuisine far beyond typical noodle shops. Tonkatsu Keita, a Tokyo-based specialist in Kagoshima black pork cutlets, has been featured on Michelin Guide Tokyo's Bib Gourmand list and Tabelog's Top 100 Tonkatsu rankings, according to TableEX. Kyoto's Pizzeria Da Naghino bakes Neapolitan-style pizza in a wood-fired oven imported from Italy, using more than 80% imported Italian ingredients, and carries a Michelin Guide Kyoto Osaka recognition, per SAVOR JAPAN.
Fourteen Restaurants, One Food Hall Floor
Beyond those two standouts, the Ventura hall brings in Curry Bits Oma and Soui Kufu from Osaka, Gelateria il Brigante from Kamakura, Karaage Agesho Shigemori from Kobe, Okonomiyaki Hana and Osaka Iggy from Osaka, Tobuta ramen from Saga, Himawari ramen from Sapporo, Tonjinchi ramen from Toyama, Onigiri Gorichan and Kidatake Udon from Osaka, and Yamato yakitori from Osaka, according to Voice of Alexandria's reporting. Together they bring Japanese regional specialties, longtime favorites and sweet treats under one roof at 3295 E. Main St., Suite 2, open daily from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Round1 is not stopping in Ventura. The company plans a paired sister food hall at North County Mall in Escondido featuring 14 entirely different Japanese restaurants, bringing the total lineup across both Southern California sites to 28 distinct culinary concepts, according to Visit Ventura.
A Mall in Transition, and a National Pattern
The Ventura opening lands amid a broader shakeup at Pacific View Mall. Real estate firm Pacific Retail Capital Partners and private investment firm Conversant Capital acquired the 884,000-square-foot mall from Macerich in September, ending Macerich's ownership of the Ventura County regional center since 1996, per Commercial Search. Pacific View, which first opened in November 1964 as the open-air Buenaventura Center before being enclosed in 1983 and redeveloped in the late 1990s, remains the only super-regional, two-level enclosed shopping destination within a 25-mile trade area along California's Gold Coast, Commercial Search notes.
Round1's move puts an entertainment complex in the mall's former Sears space.
Locally, the arrival of a large corporate entertainment complex raises questions about how it will coexist with Ventura's existing recreation options. Buena Lanes, a 42-lane bowling center that has operated in Ventura since 1978, has long served as the area's primary indoor bowling venue, according to posts referenced on Instagram. How local foot traffic at Pacific View Mall and business at longtime venues like Buena Lanes will shift now that Round1 has opened remains to be seen.
Opening Weekend Festivities
The venue held a soft opening on October 9, followed by official grand-opening festivities on October 10 that included a traditional sake barrel-breaking ceremony and branded tote bag giveaways for the first 300 guests in line. On October 11, the first 100 YUU kiosk orders received Coca-Cola goodie bags. For media inquiries, previews, interviews and images, Round1 lists Yui Ikeshima as its contact, reachable at [email protected] or (562) 672-0296.
